Expertise at One Essex Court covers a wide range of sports and their applicable rules, laws and regulations, as well as the functions of related tribunals and disciplinary and governing bodies. Members act for and advise a broad spectrum of associations, affiliates, clubs, teams, competitors, societies, players, agents, promoters and sponsors.
Our work combines deep expertise across all forms of commercial dispute with a substantial and well-established client base in the sports industry, enabling us to provide strategic advice on both high-value disputes and complex regulatory issues.
We are well established as a go-to chambers for leading sports teams, investors and governing bodies, frequently advising on their most sensitive and high stakes matters.
Our recent work includes involvement in high profile disputes concerning the ownership and control of major football clubs, as well as advising on regulatory and disciplinary proceedings arising from alleged breaches of financial and sustainability rules in elite sport.
Members have also advised in relation to issues connected with significant league investigations and acted for an international motorsport governing body in relation to contractual arrangements and commercial disputes.
As well as commercial disputes, members are able to field specialist expertise in related areas such as intellectual property, employment and competition law, offering a fully integrated approach to complex sports-related matters.
Recent cases include acting in a high-profile dispute between the joint owners of a Premier League football club concerning a potential buyout, the outcome of which may have significant implications for the club’s future ownership and direction; advising directors of a leading top-flight football club on disciplinary proceedings arising from alleged breaches of financial and sustainability rules; advising in connection with a major ongoing investigation by a leading sports governing body into alleged breaches of financial regulations by a Premier League club; and advising an international motorsport governing body on race promotion contracts and the commercial impact of the pandemic, as well as acting in a substantial commercial arbitration that settled prior to final hearing.
Notable cases include Force India Formula 1 Team v Rodriguez (acting for the sponsor in a sponsorship dispute involving an F1 team); representing a player before a Rugby World Cup disciplinary tribunal and successfully reducing a suspension on appeal; Fulham FC v Richards (a dispute arising out of a high-profile football transfer); and International Wheelchair Basketball Federation v UK Anti-Doping & Simon Gibbs, in which the Court of Arbitration for Sport described the appeal as a “frontal assault” on anti-doping rules in reliance on EU, competition and domestic public law.
In addition to representing clients before a range of courts and tribunals, members have accepted appointments in disputes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Football Association Premier League Disciplinary Panel and a number of ad hoc tribunals established for major sporting events.
Barristers at One Essex Court also have extensive experience in e-commerce and internet gambling (both in the UK and offshore), as well as regulated entertainment and gambling law, lotteries and prize competitions. We act for and advise major leisure and gambling operators, regulators including the Gambling Commission, and media organisations.
Recent work in this area includes successfully resisting a judicial review concerning the licensing of a national lottery product (Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd v Gambling Commission, The Health Lottery Elm Ltd & Ors), acting in Greene King v Gambling Commission in relation to bingo operating licences, and defending a substantial commercial claim arising from a software development and licensing agreement in the online betting sector (MatchBet v OpenBet).